Obama’s policy on separating families was not the same as Trump’s

Protesters and journalists are not hypocrites as Nancy Sewell’s letter claims. Immigration challenges and policies of the Obama and Trump administrations are different.

In 2013-16, Obama was dealing with what he called “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis” because so many Central American children were arriving at the border unaccompanied by parents. They had to be housed with sponsors or in facilities because they were minors and alone.

Obama’s administration held administrative procedures to determine if immigrants were crossing illegally, or seeking asylum. This did not require separating families. Criminal proceedings for border crossings were the exception, reserved for drug dealers.

The difference is President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. Now any border crossing is illegal and all attempting it are criminals. By law, children have to be separated from parents accused of a crime, so Trump’s policies resulted in children separated from families.